1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard disk drive, and, more particularly, to a connector connecting a flexible printed cable and a main circuit board, and a hard disk drive including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive is an example of an auxiliary memory unit which may be used in computers, etc. These devices are used to read data stored in disks, or to write new data to disks, by means of a magnetic head. The magnetic head is mounted on a slider so that, upon operating, it rises from the disk to reproduce data stored in the disk through reading it, or otherwise to write new data to the disk. Data on the disk that the magnetic head reads are converted into electric signals and transferred to a main circuit board via a flexible printed cable connected to the magnetic head. In addition, electric signals corresponding to data to be written to the disk are transferred from the main circuit board to the magnetic head via the flexible printed cable. The flexible printed cable and the main circuit board are connected to each other by means of a connector.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a connector provided in a hard disk drive according to the prior art.
The connector 10 as illustrated in the drawing includes a bracket 11 and a plurality of connecting pins 12 mounted in the bracket 11. The bracket 11 is made from an insulating material, and the connecting pins 12 are made from a conductive material. The connecting pins 12 are arranged in two rows and spaced apart from each other so as not to contact each other. First ends of the connecting pins 12 are positioned to protrude at a certain height from the bracket 11, so that these first ends are connected with terminals provided in the main circuit board with a relation of one-to-one correspondence. Further, the second ends of the connecting pins 12 are positioned opposite to the main circuit board so as to connect with the flexible printed cable.
The connector 10 as configured above has a problem in that, since the connecting pins 12 are exposed before connection with the main circuit board, electric current may flow via the flexible printed cable from the exposed portions to damage the magnetic head. To prevent this, according to the prior art, a short block 1 is mounted to the connector 10 in order to short between the connecting pins 12.
The short block 1 comprises a conductive material, and, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is formed in a rib shape such that it is inserted between the connecting pins 12 to contact them. Such a short block 1 electrically connects all of the connecting pins 12, so that the connecting pins 12 can be shorted. The short block 1 mounted as discussed above should be removed before the connection of the connector 10 with the main circuit board, or for a servo track writing performed before the connection with the main circuit board. Herein, the servo track writing is an operation that previously records a servo signal on the disk in order to write information on the hard disk drive, or to read stored information.
However, to remove the short block from the connector as described above, an additional process is required, and if the servo track writing is performed without removing the short block, errors in the operation may be caused. Further, in the course of removing the short block from the connector, the connecting pins may be bent, which could result in an incomplete connection between the connector and the main circuit board.